Native American Stereotypes on T.V.

I was recently watching on TLC a show called Little People Big World. Part of the episode had to do with the Roloffs wanting to put something on their farm that represents the Native American culture in their area. They originally just wanted to put a teepee up until they were corrected that the tribes in their area build plank houses.
I thought this was a really good episode to connect with our conversation about Native Americans and the stereotypes that exist even now. I thought it was especially important that the Roloffs recognized that their stereotype was incorrect and they took the time to correct it. They did this by having the plank house handmade by a local tribe, as well as having a traditional ceremony once it was built. I hope the episode opened others eyes to the rich, unique, and very diverse culture of Native Americans that I am just now beginning to understand. By going to the conference, reading the articles in class and the discussions in class I can see now how important it is to take the time to understand the Native American culture and learn about the many differences. I also was glad that the episode touched on the many similarities that people have as humans and no matter how different one may seem they are actually the same in many ways too.

Little House on the Prairie books

When discussing the Little House on the Prairie books in class yesterday, I found it very interesting to heard about what others thought about the portrayal of Native Americans in the book. I along with others had never thought twice about the fact that Native Americans were described like animals would be when we were younger and reading the book. It also disturbs me that no one took the time to correct these stereotypes to me. It is for exactly these reasons that people still hold these descriptions to be accurate. This is so damaging to an entire group of people just because there are people that do not want to let go of their childhood memories that they have of these books without even thinking about how it affects others. I am definitely going to be talking to people I know about the problems with these books so that more generations do not go on being ignorant about these books.
I do think they still hold a lot of value but without direction from adults how will children know that these descriptions are not accurate and never were even in the time period it was supposed to have taken place. It is important to helps students know the difference between fact and fantasy and the incredibly false descriptions and pictures created in millions of children's mind's eyes while reading these books.

Philosophy

When thinking about why I was taking this class lots of things came to my mind. The obvious ones like, it's required, or it sounded interesting were there but there really is a bigger more important reason about why I am taking this class. I want to be able to broaden my horizons about children's literature and be able to impact students ideas, beliefs, and life just by opening their eyes to a new book that presents a particular topic that may be new or different than what they had originally thought about that subject. I also wanted to learn how to pick books and learn what makes one book better than another. I learned in 348 that that can be a hard thing to do somethings. It take a lot of time and effort and research to figure out the criteria and to know what is appropriate for all students in my class.
I know that in my class I will incorporate reading into all of my subjects and lessons so knowing how to pick good books is a huge part of what I hope my students will get out of my class. I also hope to some day write some of my own children's books so I know that I need to know what the criteria is for good books so that I can create a book that is mindful of all viewpoints and does not make generalizations about a particular group of people.
It is so important to me to embrace all of my students into my lessons and in order to do this I must work hard to give good representations of all groups of people in my teaching. I know that it will take more work to be conscious of this but I also know that it will be worth it to show my students that I care about each of them equally and that I do not value one group of people over another. I hope that my students will pick this up and also begin to see that as a valuable trait for themselves and see it as something they want to do.
By adding more multicultural literacy into my curriculum, I will be able to give all of my students a book to either relate to, or to learn something new from; at least that is my hope. I think it will be really hard to make sure all of my students see these connections and understand that I want them to learn something about these many cultures. I think it will also be hard to not put my own bias into the lessons.
Thinking about what my philosophy about multicultural education is, is a complicated task. I know that in order to reach and connect with students you must show that you respect all people and cultures. I think one of the most efficient and best ways to do this is to use books to explain all sides of a story or event. In this way I can get my students talking to each other about hard issues that may be uncomfortable. I hope I can create an environment that is safe and students feel they can share their opinions and learn new things about their peers that they may have never known before. I am worried that this may not go smoothly at first but I hope eventually I will learn what works and gain new knowledge about how to approach different subjects in a way that makes all students feel I am respecting the culture.